Valiant Hearts: The Great War

I am surprised to see, that none of my fellow friends on steam actually own this game. Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a side scrolling puzzle game that teaches the player the story of WWI through the narratives of Emile, Anna, Karl and Freddie. During the game you iterate between these four characters who all have their special treat. The game is split up into chapters. Each chapter unlocks more content in your lexicon, where information about WWI can be found. The unlocked content in the lexicon matches what you as a player encounter. Between each chapter, a cinematic occurs with a speaker talking over the sequence, but during gameplay there are no speech. All dialogues between characters are depicted with pictograms, making dialogues easy digestible.

Valiant Hearts do make use of a cartoony look, but underneath lies a serious story with a serious message. What drive you through the game as a player is the story, not so much the gameplay. The puzzles are simple to grasp and can be completed by most with ease.

I played it, because I were eager to find out what happened to the four protagonists, what were they going to encounter, how would they escape this treacherous situation they have been put in. The story in the game is strong and hearth warming, and is suitable for all who are willing to learn a thing or two about WWI and its many horrors. I won’t be spoiling any of the story, so I’ll suggest you go out and try the game yourself.